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Multus Biotechnology‍ has raised $9.5 million in a Series A funding round to build a production facility in the UK for food-safe growth formulations and ingredients for the cultivated meat industry. The investment will also accelerate product development in advanced growth media formulations and food-grade raw materials. The funding includes an equity-free grant of $2.5 million from Innovate UK through the EIC Accelerator. The round was led by Mandi Ventures, including participation from SOSV, Big Idea Ventures, SynBioVen and Asahi Kasei Corp. Multus is a UK-based startup pioneering the design and production of novel growth media formulations and ingredients for the affordable scale-up of cellular agriculture.‍ Multus growth media formulations and ingredients are the foundation of cellular agriculture and allow cells to replace animals in the production of meat, dairy, leather and more. ‍‍Multus' CEO, Cai Linton, said: "We are excited to use this funding to drive innovation in novel ingredient discovery, intelligent formulation design and food-safe growth media production for the affordable scale-up of the cellular agriculture industry. We are confident that our unique approach to growth media will play a key role in making cultivated meat a sustainable and affordable choice for all." Julio Benetti, co-founder and managing partner at Mandi Ventures, added: "Multus’ technology has the potential to revolutionise the cultivated meat industry by significantly reducing production costs and accelerating the commercial scale-up of the sector, benefiting cultivated meat producers, consumers and the environment".